


New Beginning

by subverted



Series: shiro, keith & adam [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aftermath, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Closure, Forgiveness, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, M/M, Moving On, Past Relationship(s), Post-Break Up, Season 7 Spoilers, seeing friends in a new light
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-18 14:41:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15488106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/subverted/pseuds/subverted
Summary: Sometimes, life doesn't go quite as expected. And sometimes, that turns out to be a good thing. Or, Shiro makes it back to Earth and finally gets some closure.Keith keeps watching him, like he's wondering if he'sactuallygood, or the kind of good Shiro feels like he needs to make people believe, regardless of his condition. He wonders when Keith started being able to read him so easily.





	New Beginning

Some things never quite leave, no matter how much time has passed. Sometimes, time makes things worse before it makes things better. For Shiro, Adam might be one of those things. In the whirlwind that he calls his life, he's never really had the chance the grieve or feel brokenhearted, even over losing someone he thought he would be with forever. What really cuts him isn't the loss of the relationship, but that losing it doesn't hurt nearly as much as he ever could have anticipated, and he wonders if maybe he's heartless, if Adam didn't deserve better.

Sometimes, if he slows down too much, there _is_ a profound emptiness there, but if he's being entirely honest? Another feeling came with it--freedom. Space to breathe and be himself again. He wonders what would have happened if he'd realized how constricted he felt sooner than he did. If there could have been another way. Ultimately, though, he doesn't think about Adam much--if he has time to dredge all that up, he probably isn't working hard enough. At some point, he didn't even have to push the thoughts away anymore: they just stopped coming. So he has to wonder what's making them bubble to the surface now.

"Shiro?" The voice belongs to Keith. It's softer than usual, or maybe he just thinks that because it feels like it's been so long somehow. It hasn't been, but... He feels older than he really is, yet also so much younger. There's memories of a past lifetime, mixed with the echoes of existing in a place that transcends time.

And then there's Keith. He can't tear his eyes away from him. The sharper eyes, the broader chest. The way they can stand almost shoulder-to-shoulder. He looks... He looks good. No longer the scared, angry kid he once knew, but a _man_ who's fully grown into himself. It sends a swell of pride through his chest every time he notices.

"Shiro?" Keith repeats, sounding a little bemused.

Right. Stop staring.

"Sorry. I feel like I'm still half-dreaming," he explains honestly. "I... started remembering a lot about the past while I was in that pod."

"Right. Allura said they can make people dream." Keith sits on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Good." Keith keeps watching him, like he's wondering if he's _actually_ good, or the kind of good Shiro feels like he needs to make people believe, regardless of his condition. He wonders when Keith started being able to read him so easily. "... Really good. I've never felt like this before." He sits up, and flexes his arm. "I've never felt this... _light_ before."

Keith's smile is soft. "I'll bet. Krolia said the Galra have a way of... engineering out genetic impurities. It's gone, Shiro. That body saved your life."

 _It's gone._ He had a suspicion, but hearing it confirmed out loud means more than he can ever say. He can _keep going._ He'll never have to be afraid of breaking down again.

"Thanks to you," Shiro responds. Keith just keeps on rescuing him, no matter what, never turning away. Never once asking him to stop doing what he believes in. Sam and Matt were the same way, but it's different, with Keith. He knows him on a level that nobody else possibly can. He was there for him through the dark, and he waiting for him for when he came back--just like he promised. Just like Shiro needed.

What he said was meant to be light, but maybe it doesn't come out that way. The next thing he knows, Keith is gripping his shoulders, looking directly into his eyes. "I won't ever lose you again."

"Keith...." He really doesn't know how to respond. That pang is there again, the one telling him just how much Keith has grown.

  
  


\---

  
  


The person waiting for Shiro back on Earth isn't who he thought it would be. He would have expected some instructors, former classmates... Maybe even his parents, even thought he hasn't seem them in over ten years. Instead, there's olive skin. Soft brown hair.

"Adam," Shiro breathes. His eyes are locked on this man, though he can sense Keith shifting to his side.

"Takashi. I..." There's tears in Adam's eyes, and Shiro can feel something sharp pierce his chest. Pain he hasn't let himself feel again in two years. "You're alive."

For a moment, the two men stare at each other, wondering how they should handle this moment. What boundaries they should have. But Shiro's never been one to hold grudges; he's forgiven him long ago. And the best way to show him that is to draw him forward, wrap an arm around him.

Adam melts into his embrace, holding on tightly. Those months and months of regret finally unfurl in him, as hot tears stream down his face. "I... I'm so sorry. I didn't have what it took to be there for you and you didn't deserve it."

"Hey," Shiro breathes, holding him a little closer. "It's okay. We both knew it was getting too hard for us be together. It's not your fault." And he does mean that, with every part of his being. He's never blamed Adam for what he did; he always known that he was worried and scared because he loved him. But he's also always known that wasn't the kind of relationship that either of them wanted, and sometimes just love in itself isn't enough. In that sense, maybe Adam was actually the tougher of the two of them, because he was the one who finally recognized that it was time to walk away.

"I hate how good you are sometimes." Adam pulls away again, with a warm, watery smile. "I'm glad you're safe."

"Well... I had some help." Shiro rubs the back of neck with his hand, gesturing to Keith with his eyes.

"Hey, Adam," Keith greets quietly. For just one moment, he's suddenly an awkward little kid again. "Sorry I threw you out of my house last time." Adam just shakes his head, and Keith continues. "I always thought about what you said to me that one day. I couldn't get it out of my head."

Shiro glances between the two men in curiosity, wondering what Keith could be talking about it. He wasn't even aware the two of them had ever interacted when he wasn't present, and even then, it was barely. He has to wonder what happened.

Apparently, Adam doesn't know either. "What I said?"

"Yeah." Keith swallows. "I told you I was gonna stick around for Shiro no matter what, and you said... 'Maybe you're just stronger than I am.' I couldn't figure out what it meant. But now, I think I get it. I realized it when I almost lost him again."

Shiro can only look on in astonishment. Were they ever that close? Adam catches the confusion in his eyes, glancing to Keith before giving both of them a knowing look.

"Hey, I'm going to go. I think you both know where to find me, if you want to." He starts to step away, but not before he grips a shoulder--Keith's shoulder--and whispers something in his ear. Keith looks about as astonished as Shiro feels, but it melts into a smile just as quickly as it came.

"What was that about?" Shiro asks him.

"... It's nothing. Come on, let's get back to the Lions. The others are probably waiting for us." Keith starts to leave himself, but not before he grabs onto Shiro's hand. Shiro stares down it, not sure what to make of the flutters it sends through him.

  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  


_Adam leans in to Keith's ear._

  
  


_'Please take care of him for me.'_

  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  


  
  


"I will," he whispers quietly.

"Keith?" Shiro asks. Did he just say something?

Keith doesn't answer. He just grips his hand a little tighter.


End file.
